Cricket writer for The Telegraph for 13 years & also now Backspin Mag. Author of The Toughest Tour: The Ashes Away Series Since the War (book/ebook) & Greatest Ashes Tests (ebook)

Australia and Sri Lanka's wins show Test game in good spirits

After Australia’s riveting win over India at the MCG, and Sri Lanka’s surprise victory over South Africa at Durban, Test cricket finds itself in remarkably rude health at the end of 2011.
That is considering the International Cricket Council is still struggling to support and schedule the five-day game satisfactorily in the face of the still relentless rise of the 20-over game.
For now, however, the doom-mongers are being silenced by a series of undeniably compelling Test matches this autumn. If only the crowds would follow …
Four matches spring to mind.
Zimbabwe, on their return to the Test game, pushed New Zealand hard at Bulawayo, before losing by just 34 runs.
Australia chased down an imposing target of 310 to beat South Africa by two wickets at Johannesburg – a match that saw Pat Cummins claim six second-innings wickets on a remarkable debut.
Then Doug Bracewell showed his character to bowl New Zealand to a shock win over Australia at Hobart.
Only for the Australians to bounce back in this week’s enthralling first Test against India. The outcome was not as close as expected, with Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid struggling against an aggressive James Pattinson on Thursday night, but the match was still a showcase for the longer game. With his menacing stares, he could be a bowler English fans (the notorious Barmy Army) will come to love to hate.
Looking back at some of the other 35 Tests this year, very few would have expected Sri Lanka to beat South Africa, as they did on Thursday. Especially anyone who had seen the Sri Lankans capitulate as they did against England at Cardiff in early summer.
Back-to-back Tests, extensive, exhausting travel and the lure of lucrative T20 tournaments still imperil the futures of Pattinson, Cummins, Stuart Broad and the pacemen who are so badly needed to oxygenate the Test game, but at least they are here for now, as a counter-check to the notion that batsmen have it easier in Test cricket these days.
Plenty of players have enjoyed a rich harvest this year, though. Ian Bell has scored 950 runs at an average of 118. His England team-mate, Alastair Cook, has struck 927 at 84. Dravid has plundered 1,145 at 57, and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara 1,034 at 49. The emergence of Darren Bravo, 949 at 49, also makes the visit of West Indies in the first half of next summer more enticing. The cousin of Brian Lara bats like him, as well.
Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal leads the way with the ball, with 50 wickets (at 23 apiece), followed by India’s Ishant Sharma (43@37), West Indies’ Davendra Bishoo (39@36) and Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath (38@30). Pakistan’s Abdur Rehman (36@26) and England’s James Anderson (35@24) are not far behind in the wickets column.
India have had a surprisingly indifferent year, considering they started it as No1. They have won three, drawn four, lost five. South Africa seem to be struggling (two, one, two). England have had an imperious 2011 (won six, drawn two, no losses). Yet there are green shoots of recovery also emerging from Sri Lanka (one, four, six), New Zealand (two, two, one), West Indies (two, four, four), and, remarkably, Pakistan (six, one, three). No home venue, political instability in and out of the game and spot-fixing scandals stripping them of their captain and two leading bowlers – yet they look likely to test England to the full in the UAE.
And perhaps, very importantly for the Test game, Australia also look as if they are recovering. In Cummins, Pattinson and Peter Siddle (who appears to be bowling as well as he has ever has done), England must not underestimate their old enemies when two Ashes series are to be played in succession in 2013-14.
The longer game is passing the Test and for that we should rejoice.